The National Science Foundation has selected UC Santa Barbara for a new National Science and Engineering Center to study the societal implications of nanotechnology. It will provide $5 million in grants to support the Center for Nanotechnology in Society–UCSB in its first five years of operation.

The center, one of only two such NSF-funded centers in the country, is designed to aid scientists and scholars, policy makers, and the public in better understanding the societal implications of nanotechnologies, particularly over the next decade.

It also will help stimulate interdisciplinary research and educational collaboration across the nation and around the globe among faculty members and students in the social sciences, humanities, physical and life sciences, and engineering.

Lead principal investigator of CNS-UCSB is Bruce Bimber, professor of political science and communication, and head of the Center for Information Technology and Society. “A revolution in science and technology is going on around us, and most people are only dimly aware of it,” said Bimber. “Our job at this new center is to try to understand how these technologies are affecting societies, and to influence the direction of innovation in positive ways.”

David Marshall, dean of humanities and fine arts, said that understanding nanotechnology “in its historical, cultural, and social contexts will help our society to chart the future as this exciting field unfolds.” The center will also study emerging perceptions of risk and public concerns about nanotechnology, and will provide a context to involve nanoscientists in the discussion.

Two other principal investigators and co-directors of the new center are Barbara Herr Harthorn, associate director and research anthropologist at the Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research, and W. Patrick McCray, associate professor of history.

UCSB’s sister facility will be at Arizona State University. They will anchor a NSF-sponsored national network of researchers studying nanotechnology and society.

“We think that UC Santa Barbara presents the perfect environment for addressing such a complex and important issue, and we are pleased that the NSF agreed,” said Michael Witherell, vice chancellor for research. “This center will take a novel approach to studying the impact of new technology on society, involving an extraordinary collaboration of researchers from very different fields.”

UC Santa Barbara is already home to the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), a joint effort with UCLA, the state, and industrial partners to generate ideas, discoveries, and talent to fuel innovation in nanotechnology. The new center will open this coming Jan. 1 in offices located in North Hall and in the new CNSI building.

Campus officials underscored how the new Center for Nanotechnology in Society embodies UCSB’s highly interdisciplinary approach to research.

“This is a real advantage in advancing our understanding of critical social issues and the social impacts of technology,” said Melvin Oliver, dean of social sciences. “Few institutions have these cross-cutting interests and can mobilize them so effectively.”